


mementos is the school of hard knocks

by stonefreed



Series: Phantom Nuisance AU [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied Suicide Attempt, Implied abuse, Persona 5 Spoilers, Violence, canon has been slow roasted at 350 and carved up for juicy bits, chapter one takes place just after okumura's palace and " change of heart ", in this house we only acknowledge kurusu akira as the canon name, mishima is a red herring for the phantom theives bc his mask is black, no beta readers we die like men, persona user au, platonic mishima/shiho, shiho suzui deserves the world and these are cold hard facts, starts in media res
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 11:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15048341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonefreed/pseuds/stonefreed
Summary: / “You guys need help?” a familiar voice calls out from the vehicle, “A ride or somethin’?”“No. We don’t.” Phoenix answers quickly, her voice cold and hard. “Besides, our parents told us never to get into cars with strangers.” /mishima and shiho go into mementos to grind for that dirty mementos money, and have a disastrousrun in with the (not so) mysterious phantom thieves.





	mementos is the school of hard knocks

**Author's Note:**

> it's been a while since ive written SOMETHING, and i wanted to work on a persona user au that DIDNT involved shiho and mishima becoming phantom theives. More about this au over on my twitter! ( twitter.com/stone_freed )

Mishima is okay with a lot of things lately. Sneaking around in a hellish alternate version of the Tokyo subway system that full of weird ( and for a lack of a better word: _distorted_ ) versions of people? _Cool_ . Running around with one of his former volleyball club teammates? _Great_ ! (Suzui makes for a damn fine partner, anyways.) Both hiding from and annoying the Phantom Thieves? He feels a bit bad about it, but other than that, he's _okay_ with this.

 

He needs the money, really. the Phan-site doesn't pay for itself and traffic keeps pouring in. So, it's in his best interest to keep doing _whatever_ this is.

 

His nimble fingers carefully pick the lock of the chest, with Phoenix watching his back. He’s moving as fast as he can, and lets out a cheerful hum as the lock pops open with a satisfying click.  He can hear her sauntering over, her confidence seeping into him as she drapes her arm over his shoulders whilst they reap the spoils of their latest find.

 

“Nice find!” Phoenix beams while she stuffs gemstones into her pockets. “At this rate, we _should_ be able to be able to cover the Phan-site cost for the next couple of months!”

 

Mishima nods his agreement, a feeling of excited contentment washing over him. He likes the thrill of sneaking around, fighting shadows and stealing treasure. It's more satisfying than back capping the point with less than ten seconds on the clock _and_ getting play of the game.

 

“Phoenix, can you guide me? I think we should try... try to _run away_.” they're closing in now, and the growing feeling of nausea is nearly overwhelming. He can feel Suzui grip his arm, and she pulls him into the chaotic sea of distortion.

 

It takes Mishima a painfully long time to realize that they _were_ being followed, and that the other group must have someone with an navigation ability similar to his own. They're halfway to the stairs when something tingles at the back of his skull, almost like someone is digging their fingers into his head.

 

He motions to Phoenix, and summons his persona, lines of code passing by him until he finally gets a clear reading. They all pop up on his radar, one blip after another, their signals declaring to him that they were Persona users. _Great_. She grabs his right arm and pulls him along as he scans and navigates this hellish other world.

 

“We have _company_ .” He informs her, a nauseous feeling growing in the pit of his stomach as the group closes in on them. Mishima runs the numbers, and the eight against _two_ odds meant that their odds to walking away unscaled were slim to none.

 

“It’s the Phantom Thieves.” Phoenix’s guess is _probably_ right; her intuition is inhumanly accurate.

 

Mishima can hear her frustration, and something that borders on anger. He wonders if she feels like he does, the gut feeling of being slowly backed into a corner. She suddenly grips Mishima’s arm tighter, breaking out into a run, nearly pulling his arm out of his socket with the force.He unsummons Dupin, letting the feeling of the mask return to his face. He glances at Phoenix, her normally stoic expression bordering on anxious.  

 

He really does care more about Shiho and her well being than he does himself. She’s dependable and kind; the kinda person that’s a solid rock, even after everything that’s happened to her. He had been surprised to learn that she had no hard feelings towards him, even _after_ the incident. She really is a one-of-a-kind girl.

 

Mishima is shaken out of his thoughts by the sound of a car horn honking right behind him. It’s so surprising in fact, that Mishima jumps up a foot and a half into the air and lets out a shriek so loud that it wouldn't be too out of place for a shadow to make it.

  
Phoenix glances sideways at him, and he can hear people snickering behind him. It makes his self-consciousness skyrocket, the tips of his ears and his cheeks burn like a match tip. He turns to look at the people in the vehicle, and ends up blinded by the headlights instead.

 

“You guys need help?” a familiar voice calls out from the vehicle, “A ride or somethin’?”

 

“No. We don’t.” Phoenix answers quickly, her voice cold and hard. “Besides, our parents told us _never_ to get into cars with _strangers_.”

 

 _They_ **aren’t** _really strangers though_ , Mishima wants to point out; but he knows better than to say anything. The Phantom Thieves are definitely not on their side, after all. He puts his hand up so that he can block out the lights from the van, and to see who is in the van.  

 

Mishima can see the rest of the group arguing in the van; and he definitely catches the words ‘ _black mask_ ’ and ‘ _suspicious_ ’ being thrown around. They are definitely talking about _him_ , and it doesn’t sound positive. After a moment of arguing, they must come to a conclusion, because the front passenger door opens and a guy in a long black coat steps out. He has his hands up in a ‘ don’t attack me, I’m a friendly ’ kinda way; not that it helps much. Even without Dupin out, Mishima can just sense the sheer amount of  power rolling off the other in waves.

 

“ _Phoenix_.” Mishima spits out through gritted teeth, raising his black umbrella as the guy closes the distance between the duo.

 

“ _Sleuth_ .” she responds, her voice strained. She knows what _needs_ to happen, and what they both need to do.

 

“ _Joker_ !” the guy calls out in a smug ton- _waitafuckingsecond_ , did that guy think they were _introducing_ themselves?

 

Mishima glances back, and Shiho meets his gaze. She unholsters her sword, while he undoes the clasp on his umbrella. The guy, _Joker_ , glances backwards at the van.

 

“Maybe we could put down the weapons?” Joker asks, and somewhat involuntarily, Mishima’s eyes widen at the sound. “You’re making the others nervous.”

 

“We’re _not_ going to do that. Put down our weapons, I mean.” Mishima fires back awkwardly. He can see the corners of Joker’s lips turn up slightly, and hear Phoenix groan.

 

“I see.” He sounds disappointed. Blue fire surrounds Joker’s black and white mask, the beginning of the summoning of a persona. “Arse-”

 

“K _ASSANDRA_! STRIKE THEM DOWN.” Phoenix is much quicker on the draw though, sending a bolt of bless magic right into Joker, knocking him down.

 

Talk about one hell of an opportunity. Mishima follows up by summoning Dupin; creating a thick fog around their immediate vicinity, letting the chaos be their getaway driver. They wouldn’t be able to stay in Mementos, ( the other navigator would almost certainly find them again.) but they _could_ get to a safe spot to leave.

 

And, without skipping a beat, Mishima and Shiho flee deeper into Mementos, desperate to flee the wrath of the Phantom Thieves.

**Author's Note:**

> ive been working on this au for almost a month now! feels good to finally have something written for it, even this! 
> 
> shiho's memento outfit reference can be found here: http://stone-freed.tumblr.com/post/174475821509/my-phantom-thief-designs-shiho-design-that-i-made ( specifically the outfit on the left side, the one without the belt)
> 
> the outfit mishima's based off of is found here: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/444674478484619275/459225862374424618/image.jpg ( until i can get a proper reference drawn! )

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The road to friendship is paved with.... skin? I think?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15053324) by [pikachuch1mchar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikachuch1mchar/pseuds/pikachuch1mchar)




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